limelight
by McMuffin
Summary: When Addison and Kevin return to their high school yes, I made them attend the same school for a reunion, they face a conflict with their pasts, and need to resolve this. Can Mr. Popular and Dr. Geek find themselves amongst their peers? Hotcop! oneshot.


**My attempt to give some kind of insight into the thin layer of background that we received for Kevin. Also background info for Addison, and some cute-sy HotCop! because I can never resist.**

*

_The geek. The loser. The nerd.  
The goddess. The lover. The surgeon._

_The hottie. The perfect. The captain.  
The handsome. The pretender. The cop._

Polar opposites. Never meant to be.  
Never in high school, that is.  
She's turned from negative to positive, and he's turned vice versa, then aren't they still opposites?

And don't opposites attract?

*

They step into the limelight. She casts an overwhelming smile to the crowd, turning heads as people whisper _who is that? _They don't need to ask who he is, his looks haven't changed. His personality- yes- but as he guides her through to the bar, everyone knows their football idol is back.

She holds her head high, smiling at his jokes, making small-talk and mingling with the people she hid from in high school.

He watches her, he talks with old friends- who all still seem to be bachelors, or in jail- and cracks jokes here and there.

They go their separate ways, each carving pathways to their pasts, with her path ending with a bitchy comment to the Prom Queen and she wonders how she ever let herself be bullied by these people.

His path doesn't seem to be ending. He sees the science geeks he used to tease. The girl he knew was once Addison's friend- he sees her with her husband, showing off her kids' photos and he wondered how he went from top of the food chain to feeling like he was hovering at dog level.

He hadn't lost his popularity- people he didn't know were still staring at him- and he hadn't lost his joker personality, yet as he adjusted his Versace shirt collar his girlfriend caught his eye.

She smiles at him and strides over, the expensive heels clicking on the floor as awe follows her out of watchful eyes and into the cool breeze of the patio where he stands.

"Where've you been, Mr. Popular?" She jokes, fixing the collar he just muddled.

"Oh, around." He forces a grin and drops his gaze at her curious expression.

She pauses before smiling. "Are you enjoying this?"

He shrugs, not having a definite answer.

Kevin thinks to himself, is he really happy to be here? Or are the memories of carefree days and knot-less weeks all too hard for the mind that keeps wondering when he began to back-pedal his life away?

She places a hand on his waist and leans up to kiss him and he doesn't miss the people staring in his peripherals.

From afar his girl seems to have it all. Money, looks, the guy, but as he stares past the mascara coated lashes and champagne-induced glaze he realises her exterior is guarding a frizzy-haired, brace-faced, science-loving teenager.

With this realisation comes one for himself. _His _exterior hides a boy with looks, yet not enough confidence to show his true self past the show jokes and extravagant tricks.

"You want to go back inside?" He asks, hoping she will want to mingle some more; show off the '_new' _Addison.

She nods and follows him in and they part ways. She goes to see the photos of a fellow science geek- not caring if the judgemental 'populars' gossip about the hot surgeon never losing her inner nerd. He goes to see the friend he had ditched in sophomore year when the friend acquired acne and he did not.

*

By the evening's end, Kevin had come to two conclusions.

One. That maybe he wasn't the only one pretending, maybe everyone was. Maybe no one had it together and maybe no one would stop.

Two. That he hadn't actually reversed after high school.

He no longer had priority in the social order; Nelson wasn't a name like Forbes Montgomery and SWAT wasn't a career like world-class surgeons. Yet he realised priority didn't matter.

If it did, he wouldn't have Addison. He wouldn't have left the hall with a grin on his face and he _would _have felt ashamed when he told everyone that he was a cop.

But he didn't.

*

In the cab on the way home he smiles over at Addison. His girlfriend had let her hair down from its bun and its messiness framed her face.

"Nice hair, geek." He can't help but say.

She slaps him- partly because she's been hiding from her keep status all night and partly because he did actually call her a geek during the _one _conversation they had in high school, and partly because she knows he's been waiting all night to say that…

Ever since she joked that she thought he was ugly in high school.

"Show off." She mumbles back as she leans into his chest, seatbelt digging into her neck a little.

He runs his hands through her hair. "I hate these things."

"How come?" She asks though she already knows the answer.

It's the same answer she gives when asked this question.

"It's all bullshit. Like high school again. Bullshit… I can't be myself. Damn pretending." He grumbles.

She sighs. "I know."

He twists at the irritating collar again and pulls his tie off.

She kicks off her heels and rubs at her feet.

*

At least they don't have to pretend to each other.

*

**Please review, it's nearly 2AM... I'm officially an insomniac after a week of late nights haha. Reviews make me happy :)**


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